Fécamp (Seine-Maritime), Le Havre, Cherbourg (Manche), Saint-Brieuc, Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique)… Renewable marine energies (wind, tidal power, etc.) generated 4,859 jobs in France in 2020 and should continue on this momentum, indicates the Observatory of the energies of the sea in its fifth report, posted on Tuesday June 22.
“In 2020, the start of work for the construction of the Saint-Brieuc and Fécamp parks was added to those started in 2019 for the Saint-Nazaire park, explains the Observatory. (…) The expansion of operations at sea as well as the start of work for the Courseulles-sur-Mer park (Calvados) will confirm this dynamic in 2021 ”, year in which 1,500 jobs are expected to be created.
Most of these positions have been opened with manufacturers manufacturing the equipment, particularly in Pays de la Loire, Normandy and Ile-de-France. The investment curve is also rising: 1.5 billion euros have been invested (against around 500 million in 2019) in a sector which claims to have suffered very little from the health crisis.
“Change of scale” in 2020
“The majority of the value and jobs resulting from French projects are well anchored in our country”, welcomes Frédéric Moncany de Saint-Aignan, President of the French Maritime Cluster, behind the creation of the Observatory, in 2016, with the support of the Environment and Energy Management Agency (Ademe). And 29% of the activity has been turned towards export. Officials in the sector feared that the industry would not follow suit, and that the development of wind power off the French coast would first benefit companies producing outside France.
The year 2020 marks, according to Mr. Moncany de Saint-Aignan, “A change of scale”. This requires the industry, he says, to “Resorting even more to maritime services and, beyond that, to all French companies with skills to offer”. In addition to the large electricians (EDF, Engie, Iberdrola, etc.) there are powerful industrialists (General Electric, Siemens Gamesa, etc.) and public works giants, such as Bouygues, or the naval sector (Chantiers de l’Atlantique). But also a whole fabric of SMEs.
The sector is also banking on the development, from 2023, of floating wind turbines, particularly in the Mediterranean. The horizon is however far from clear. Land and sea wind power does not garner unanimity, the National Gathering having even made the fight against this source of energy a theme of its campaign at the latest regional. Those responsible for the sector expressed concern on Tuesday during the 7es National conference on renewable marine energies.
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